Download Diversity and Unity in US Society

Diversity in the United States:
Questions and Concepts
Chapter One
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Racial and Ethnic Groups 1980-2050
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
A Land of Immigrants
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Over the past three decades, the number of
immigrants arriving in the U.S. has more than
tripled, changing the racial and ethnic makeup of
U.S. society
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
What is a minority group?
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The members of the group experience a pattern of
disadvantage or inequality.
The members of the group share a visible trait or
characteristic that differentiates them from other groups.
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The minority group is a self-conscious social unit.
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Membership in the group is usually determined at birth.
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Members tend to marry within the group.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Inequality
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Most important defining characteristic of minority
groups
Variable patterns of inequality-exploitation, slavery,
genocide
Minority, or subordinate groups, have less of what
society values
Pattern is a result of actions by the core or dominant
group
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Inequality
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Stratification, or the unequal distribution of valued
goods and services, is a basic feature of society.
Societies are divided into horizontal layers (or
strata), often called social classes, which differ from
one another by the amount of resources they
command.
Minority group status affects access to property,
prestige, and power
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
White and Black Americans on Equal
Opportunity 1963-2009
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Theoretical Perspectives
Theories of Inequality
Karl Marx
Class Conflict inevitable
Max Weber
Gerhard Lenski
Patricia Hill Collins
Relationship to the
means of production
Economic Position
Level of development of society
Matrix of domination
Borgeoisie or the ruling class
Prestige
Subsistence technology
Intersecting and mutually
reinforcing inequalities
The proletariat or the working class
Power
Oppressor and oppressed changes
based on changes in
social context
Can oppress and be
oppressed simultaneously
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Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Minority Group Status and Stratification
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Minority group status affects access to wealth and
income, prestige, and power.
Although social classes and minority groups are
correlated, they are separate social realities.
Struggles over property, wealth, prestige, and power
lie at the heart of every dominant-minority
relationship.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Visible Distinguishing Traits
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Visible traits or characteristics that set members of the group
apart and that the dominant group holds in low esteem.
Racial minority groups differentiated by physical
characteristics.
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Ethnic minority groups differentiated by cultural characteristics.
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Categories can overlap.
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Creations of historical and social processes not biological
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Race
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Even though race is not regarded as an important
biological characteristic, it is still an important social
concept. It continues to be seen as a significant way
of differentiating among people.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Distribution of Skin Color
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Race and Western Traditions
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The U.S. concept of race has its origins in Western
Europe.
 Developed after European exploration led to contact with
Africans, Asians, and Native Americans.
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Europeans conquered, colonized, and sometimes
destroyed those people they came into contact with.
This was facilitated and contributed to their linking of
differences between what would come to be seen as
races with notions of inferiority and superiority.
These notions continue to have significance today.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Race and Biology
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Attempts were made to develop systems of
scientifically-based racial classifications.
 These were limited because dividing lines between
the so-called racial groups are arbitrary and blurred.
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Recent scientific developments show that genetic
variation within the “traditional” racial groups is
greater than the variation between those groups.
 These developments show that the traditional
American perception of race based primarily on skin
color, has no scientific validity.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
The Social Construction of Race
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To sociologists, race is a social construction and its
meaning has been created and sustained not by
science but by historical, social, economic, and
political processes.
The importance of race was socially constructed as
the result of particular historical conflicts and it
remains important not because of objective realities
but because of the widespread, shared social
perception that it is important.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Gender
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Like race, gender has both a biological and a social
component and can be a highly visible and
convenient way of judging and sorting people.
Rather than discussing women as a separate group,
we need to focus on the divergent experiences of
men and women within each minority group.
This approach permits us to analyze the ways in
which race, ethnicity, gender, and class combine,
overlap, and crosscut each other to form a “matrix
of domination” (Hill-Collins, 1991, pp. 225-227).
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Social Construction of Gender
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Traits commonly seen as “typical” of men or women are not
discrete, separate categories
As with racial differences, research has shown that there is
more variation within gender categories than between them.
 These findings seriously undermine the view that gender
differences are genetic or biological.
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The social construction is further illustrated by the fact that
what is thought to be “appropriate” gender behavior varies
from time to time and society to society.
The essentially social nature of gender roles is further
illustrated by the relationship between subsistence technology
and gender inequality.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Gender Development
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prejudice
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The tendency to think (cognitive) about other groups
in a particular manner and to attach usually negative
emotions (affective) to other groups.
Stereotypes are generalizations that are thought to
apply to all members of the group.
Generally the two dimensions of prejudice are highly
correlated but distinct and separate and can vary
independently.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Dominant-Minority Relations
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Causes of Prejudice
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Theories that focus on personality needs as a cause
of prejudice
Theories that view prejudice as primarily a result of
being raised in a racist society and interacting in
many social situations in which discrimination is
approved
Theories that view prejudice as arising out of
intergroup conflict
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Competition Between Groups and the
Origins of Prejudice
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The one common factor that seems to account for
the origin of all prejudices is competition between
groups
Typically, prejudice is more a result of the
competition than a cause
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Limitations
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Individuals who have no material stake in minority group
subordination can still be extremely prejudiced.
The sources of prejudice can be found in culture,
socialization, family structure, and personality
development, as well as in politics and economics.
Prejudice can have important psychological and social
functions independent of group power relationships.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Culture, Socialization, and the
Persistence of Prejudice
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Prejudice originates in group competition of some
sort but often outlives the conditions of its creation
Gunnar Myrdal proposed the idea that prejudice is
perpetuated through time by a self-fulfilling prophecy
or a vicious cycle
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
The Vicious Cycle
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
The Vicious Cycle
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The idea that prejudice is learned during
socialization is reinforced by studies of the
development of prejudice in children.
Children acquire prejudice even when parents and
other caregivers do not teach it overtly.
Black / white doll test Ex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkpUyB2xgTM
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
The Vicious Cycle
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Research using social distance scales demonstrates
that prejudice exists apart from individuals and that it
is passed from generation to generation.
The importance of the social situation in which
attitudes are expressed and behavior occurs is also
important as what people think and what they do is
not always the same.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Limitations
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No two people have the same socialization
experiences or develop exactly the same prejudices.
Socialization is not a passive process; we are not
neutral recipients of a culture that is simply forced
down our throats.
We also learn egalitarian norms and values as we
are socialized.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Modern Racism
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The harsh, blatant forms of prejudice present for
most of U.S. history have become muted recently
 This led some to conclude that individual prejudice is
no longer a significant problem in American life.
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However, sociological research clearly demonstrates
that prejudice has not disappeared. Rather, it has
assumed a more subtle and indirect form.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
The Sociology of
Individual Prejudice
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Prejudice has its origins in intergroup competition
and is more the result of competition rather than the
cause.
Prejudice is used to justify and rationalize societal
inequality that becomes part of a cultural heritage.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Discrimination
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Refers to behavior and may be defined as the
unequal treatment of a person or persons based on
group membership
Discrimination and prejudice do not necessarily
occur together
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Ideological Racism
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A belief system or a set of ideas that assert that a particular group is
inferior and used to legitimize or rationalize the inferior status of the
group.
Incorporated into the culture of society and can be passed on from
generation to generation.
Do not necessarily need prejudice to have ideological racism-socialization processes.
The term ideological sexism, analogous to ideological racism but
focused on sexual differences, will be used when we analyze
patterns of inequality between males and females.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Institutionalized Discrimination
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Patterns of unequal treatment based on group
membership and built into the institutions and daily
operations of society.
Can be obvious and overt, but usually operate in
more hidden and unintended ways.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Institutionalized Discrimination
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Individual level prejudice and discrimination, and
group level racism and institutional discrimination
reinforce each other.
These relationships are socially negotiated and
sustain the respective positions of dominant and
minority groups in the stratification system.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
A Global Perspective
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It is important to note that the dynamics of intergroup relations in the United States are not unique.
Group relations in the U.S. are shaped by global
economic, social, and political forces.
There are complex interconnections between the
domestic and the international.
Healey. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 4e
© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.